


The Jersey Devil

by orphan_account



Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - No My Chemical Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Frank Iero Is A Little Shit, Ghosts, Horror, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Shy Frank Iero, Slow Burn, Slow To Update
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:00:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27648539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: It's 2004 in Belleville, New Jersey. Y/n, a dull twenty-two year-old with a steady job, goes to the bus stop that she goes to every day after work. There she meets Frank Iero, an off center, shy "twenty-three year-old." But Frank isn't really twenty three, mostly because he's literally the Jersey Devil. Oh yeah, and Frank has been stalking her for the past year and knows more about her than she thinks. So how is he gonna tell her that he's in love with her?
Relationships: Frank Iero/Reader, Frank Iero/YN, Frank Iero/You
Comments: 5
Kudos: 25





	1. Prologue

Location:  
Belleville, New Jersey.  
Date: November twelfth, 2004.  
Time: 6:50 p.m  
  


Sightings of the Jersey Devil flashed across the screen as Y/n walked by, she stopped in her tracks and stared at the florescent screen through the finger print smudged window. Blurry pictures of a grotesque creature flying through the air, long neck, goats head, bat wings. It's disturbing, like a mad taxidermist put it together, brought it back to life and let it roam the streets of New Jersey. Y/n scoffed and continued walking along the sidewalk, "It's probably fake." She thought.   
  
But how could it be fake? It looked so real, almost like she could reach her hand through the screen and touch it's mangy, rough fur. It didn't take long for her to come back to reality and accept that it was fake, but a small voice in the back of her head said otherwise.   
  
The sidewalk was wet and glossy from fresh rain, tiny puddles still gathered in the small dips on the sidewalk. Y/n avoided them like the plague, not wanting to get her new boots wet.   
_  
"I bought these boots for you, Y/n. Just a little early thanksgiving gift!"_

 _"Thank you, i'll wear them often."_ _  
  
"From one sister to another!"  
  
_ The cold November air bit at her skin, even when she attempted to cover it up with her favorite y/f/c scarf. The clouds above her were various shades of grey and black, almost as if rain were about to fall from the heavens at any moment. Though the clouds were gloomy the sunset had never looked more beautiful, an indescribable painting of thousands of shades of pink, purple, blue. She enjoyed looking at it while sitting at the bus stop. She did not have a car of her own, she thought it was more convenient to take public transport. Which for her it was, seeing as she worked a small office job that only paid enough to keep her in her one room apartment and to pay for other necessities. She was paying for the same apartment she had been living in for the past year, it was a nice complex. Not much noise, nice neighbors, reasonable rent. She liked living a quiet home life.  
  
As she sat silently at the bus stop she saw someone new, he was not much taller than her, he had short black hair that went into a swoop at the side, a nose and lip ring, a plethora of tattoos on his left arm and an additional tattoo on his neck, it looked like a scorpion. She had not seen him before, who could he be? Maybe it was Mr. Fisher's grandson, Mr. Fisher was the kind eighty something year old man that she would always see in the morning at the bus stop with one of his nurses. He would tell her stories of his grandchildren quite often, what did he say his grandsons name was again? Eric? Eliot? She couldn't remember. Mr. Fisher had never mentioned what his grandson looked like and the old man didn't have many prominent facial features she could name off of the top of her head so, she had a hard time proving her theory. Maybe based off of his actions and demeanor she could determine if she was correct or not.  
  
He had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, he took slow drags from it every now and then, he was slightly slouched and leaning against the iron pole that supported the small roof above the bus stop bench. She wasn't going to lie, he was quite attractive. But she couldn't focus on that, at least not now. He seemed deep in thought, she wondered what he could be thinking about. Bills, possibly work, maybe even about dinner or something. Suddenly claps of thunder boomed through the air, causing Y/n to flinch. Normally she wouldn't mind thunder or rain, but she was so deep in thought that she hadn't noticed it was raining. And now the punk boy that was about four feet away from her was now sitting next to her on the bench, seeking coverage from the pouring rain.   
  
"Nasty weather right?" He said, turning over to look at Y/n. He had a soft smile, maybe he liked the rain? She noticed how he no longer had a cigarette, instead he traded it out for a piece of mint gum.  
  
"Yeah you could say that. It's nice, though. Rain is comforting in some weird way."  
  
"I totally agree with that. Y'know i was actually born in the middle of a really bad thunderstorm on Halloween. I mean it's not that interesting but hey it's a conversation starter." he chuckled, crossing his legs one over the other and fiddling with the hem of his black coat.   
  
"But that's actually kinda cool though! Being born on Halloween and stuff. Did you get to have like, Halloween themed birthday parties?" She was excited about this new information, mostly because now she knew this wasn't Mr. Fisher's grandson. Because Eliot or Eric's (whatever his name is) birthday was a week from now, she remembered because Mr. Fisher had mentioned it to her. But that left a bigger question, who was he? She had never seen him around before, maybe he was visiting family? It would make sense if he was, a lot of people were coming up to Belleville to visit their families. It was getting pretty close to thanksgiving, the closer to the holiday the more people that showed up.  
  
"I mean yeah i guess i did, but i don't remember to much of it." He sighed, he looked defeated. Probably sad that he didn't remember much of his childhood. "Oh well, i'm sorry you don't remember much. The least you can do is make more memories to fill in the gap, right?" She smiled sweetly, he smiled back and nodded.  
  
"So where you heading?" He asked, did he intend for it to sound creepy? Not really, but it came off as creepy. Y/n didn't pick up on it though.  
  
"Just heading back to my apartment. What about you?"  
  
"Y'know, visiting some friends for thanksgiving. They recently moved up here so i just came to say hi and such."  
  
"So you're from down south?"  
  
"Yeah, southern Jersey."  
  
"Oh."  
  
Silence. Uncomfortable silence. Y/n had never been one to like silence, she hated it actually.  
  
Think of a thing to talk about, ask him about his interests. No that's creepy. The news maybe. What had been on the news lately? What was that thing she saw? What was it called? The Jersey Devil?  
  
"So did you see that thing on the news? The Jersey Devil? What a hoax, huh?" She said, a playful smile plastered on her face. A smile that said "Can you believe people think that shit is real?", and Frank read it loud and clear. He stiffened at the mention of it, but he shook his head and masked his feelings. "Yeah i can't believe people fall for that, it's all a bunch of shit." He laughed, i guess he doesn't want to believe he is what she speaks of. Call that self loathing i guess.  
  
 _"Gerard what am i supposed to do? I see her around the city all the time and i can't stop thinking about her."_  
  
 _"Where do you see her often?"_  
  
 _"The bus stop at 6:50 every afternoon on weekdays."_  
  
 _"You're a stalker, you know that?"  
_

The two continued talking as they got onto the bus, they smiled and joked. One might even mistake them for a young couple and not two strangers getting to know each other. But first encounters always lead to more, right?

Y/n had realized her drop-off point was getting closer, it was now or never. She could ask him for his number or never see him again. "Hey so do you think maybe i can have your number? Y'know i had a nice time talking to you and all." She said nervously, looking at her black knitted gloves. "Oh yeah of course! Maybe we can hang out sometime?" He put his number into Y/ns phone and waved goodbye. She wished the conversation didn't have to end.

"Yeah that would be great! I'll talk to you later, Frank." She waved him goodbye and walked off the bus, by now the rain had stopped and the sky was dark. Suddenly her phone buzzed in her coat pocket, it was probably Frank. She continued to walk down the sidewalk towards her apartment building, phone still in hand.

_Frank 7:45 p.m_

_Hey it's Frank, just wanted to make sure this worked._

She looked down at the small screen on her phone and smiled, she began to type her message.

_Y/n 7:46 p.m_

_Who is this?  
_   
_Just kidding, hi Frank._

_Frank 7:46 p.m  
  
Very funny. You had me for a second._

_Y/n 7:47 p.m  
_   
_C'mon it was a little bit funny._

_Frank 7:47 p.m_

_I did say very funny didn't I?_

_Y/n 7:47 p.m  
_   
_Dork._

_Frank 7:48 p.m_

_Nerd_.

_Y/n 7:48 p.m  
  
Rude._

_Frank 7:48 p.m  
_   
_You started it._

_Y/n 7:49 p.m  
  
Touché._

_Frank 7:49 p.m_

_So i was wondering, do you maybe wanna go out for lunch tomorrow? Whatever time works._ _  
_

Y/n stared at the screen.

"He's asking me out for lunch?" She whispered. "Well no duh if he wasn't i wouldn't be getting this text, dumb-ass." She whispered back. She was basically having an argument with herself. Totally normal thing to do when i cute guy you just met asks you out for lunch.

_Y/n 7:50 p.m_

_How does 12 o' clock sound? Maybe around that one diner close to the bus stop? We can meet there and then walk over._

_Frank 7:50_

_Yeah that sounds great, i'll see you there._

Y/n giggled in excitement as she unlocked her front door, she continuously read over the conversation. She couldn't wait, 'when was the last time i went on a date?' she thought. 'Is this even a date? What should i wear? Something nice? Laid back? a mix of the two? I'll figure it out in the morning'

She put on an old shirt and a pair of shorts, climbed into bed, and slept. Barely, she was to excited so sleep. 

On the other end of the conversation Frank was smiling from ear to ear, he turned over to look at Gerard. Gerard gave Frank a thumbs up and smiled, "You finally did it, you fucking stalker." He snickered. "Oh shut up you're a ghost for fucks sake, who knows all the creepy shit you've done." Frank teased, laying back in his armchair as he quietly chuckled. 

"Just know that Mikey and I will be close by." 

"Yeah we will." Mikey said enthusiastically, popping his head out from the carpeted floor.

"That will never be scary."

"I know."


	2. Come With Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Is this the generation of love? Hot blood, hot thoughts and hot deeds? Why, they are vipers. Is love a generation of vipers" -Shakespeare

Y/n fumbled around her room looking for her boots, she could have sworn she left them in here, after what felt like forever she had found them close to the couch, she tied the laces into a bow and stomped her foot on the ground to make sure it was tight around her foot. She walked into the bathroom and stared at herself, she didn't wear much makeup. She had no need for it. She didn't do much with her hair, it's better to leave it the way it is. She wrapped up her favorite y/f/c scarf around her neck and made her way out the door, thankfully once she got to the bus stop she had not been waiting long. About five or so minutes.

She knew she'd get there a little late, she should text him.

_Y/n 11:49 a.m_

_I might get there a little late._

She let it sit for awhile, she was nervous. She felt the small phone vibrate when he texted back, did she want to look? Well, yes. But, no. What if he had to chancel? What if he didn't even show up?

_Frank 11:50 a.m_

_It's alright, i'll wait for you._  
  


Y/n 11:51  
  
_Thanks. :)_

He's sweet. She wished she met more guys like this, but then again she's a hermit who doesn't go out much so maybe it's her fault. She smiled at her small phone, closing it slowly as she looked out the window. She was almost there, she couldn't wait to see him. Maybe if she wasn't as excited she would have notice her cheeks were flushed and that her ears felt warm, but she didn't notice it much. The bus came to a stop and she could see him through the window in front of her, he was wearing the same coat he was wearing the day before, his hair a bit ruffled and small strands of hair in his face. He moved a couple of stands from his face and looked up, he smiled brightly and stood up. Y/n walked off the small steps and her boots hit the cold sidewalk, she looked at him. He looked amazing, the sky behind him was no longer a mucky grey like the previous evening. Today it was a bright crisp powder blue, she always thought this shade of blue smelled like fresh cotton. A clean sent you can come home to, soft and lightly sweet.

His smile was comforting and his gaze was soft, he faintly smelled of smoke (but not quiet cigarettes) and had a smudge of what looked like coal on his cheek. She smiled at him and whipped it off his cheek with her coat sleeve, "Just a smudge." 

He chuckled but behind his eyes and smile he was fearful, why was that? She pushed the question down to the pits of her mind and focus on a different question. His cheek was warm, but not _too_ warm. Why was he warm? He should have been cold from sitting out here waiting for her. Maybe he's just a naturally warm person? Yeah, lets go with that.

"Onward my faithful steed!" She exclaimed, hooking her arm around Franks. He laughed at her actions and began to walk with her, they continued to talk as they made their way towards the small diner down the street. 

"So, what's your job?" He said, a smile still faintly on his lips.

Her smile faded to a slight frown, she hates her job.   
  
"Oh i just work as a receptionist at some small company. Over all it's pretty boring. What about you?" 

He froze up suddenly but quickly eased up as to not cause any suspicion, he wasn't expecting her to ask him about his job, he was expecting her to change the subject. Why would he expect her not to ask him? What is he, stupid? What was he supposed to say? I don't have one? I'm actually a cryptid and sometimes _just_ sometimes i kill people? Oh and also hang out with this duo of slightly argumentative and annoying ghost brothers and some introverted faun! How the hell was he supposed to explain that to her? 

"I play in a band."

'Really?! That was the best you could fucking do?!'

"Oh wow that's so cool! What's it called?" She jumped around and grinned, she had never met anyone who played cool instruments, maybe he played drums? Oh or maybe guitar, what if he sang? Which ever one he ended up playing, she would definitely still like him. Is that what that feeling was? She liked him? She'll think about it later, maybe when the person in question isn't right next to her. Yeah, that seems reasonable.  
  
"We don't quite have one yet but y'know we're getting there." 

"Oh, well when you come up with one you should definitely tell me. What do you play?"

'Shit.' He thought, he was a cryptid with a human disguise, he could learn a stupid instrument if he wanted to. But what was he supposed to say he played?

"Guitar."

'I guess i'm gonna have to learn guitar now. Doesn't Ray play a little bit of guitar? Well not a little bit, a lot actually. Maybe he can teach me?'

"Oh that's cool! I tried to learn guitar once but it didn't really work for me. The F Chord was my downfall." She joked, god he loved her. Sure, he loved her before he got to know her, but now that he was finally talking to her and getting along with her he loved her even more. But he knew he couldn't keep his secret from her much longer, it would get out eventually. 

So he would have to tell her, today. If she runs away screaming like her heads on fire (Like most people did) it's his fault, he could just run away back to south jersey anyway. It's not like he hasn't been there before, he still has his little abandoned cottage that was so deep in the woods not a single human could find him. He slightly missed that forest, sometimes he would see nymphs by the river, pixies hovering over the small flowers. At night he could see the lights from small tree houses that were occupied by fairies, some times he could hear the fairies listening to music if he listened hard enough. Though he had no real neighbors (at least ones that actually liked him.) he was surrounded by familiar entities, that was enough for him. This was the right decision, tell her before it's to late.

"Hello? Earth to Frank?" Y/n said, snapping her fingers in front of his face. He blinked and came back to reality, "Oh yeah sorry about that i just kinda spaced out."

"It's totally fine, but you gotta be careful! You almost walked into the door." She chuckled, he nervously smiled back and opened the door for her. The inside of the diner was warm, a lot warmer than outside. The smell of light grease attacked Franks nose, when all your five senses are basically super enhanced to like a thousand, the smallest unpleasant scent basically jumps out at him. She giggled and he looked down at her. 

"You're face!" She said through small laughs, "God you should have seen it, never smelled grease before?" She was smiling like an idiot, her eyes were soft and her smile was sweet. He shook his head while smiling, "It's a bit strong." 

"Really you think so? It's pretty light, what you got some like super human smell or something?" She said jokingly. He laughed but on the inside he just wanted to blurt out everything, but the best option for him at the moment would be to be quiet and try to act normal.

From the corner of his eye he saw two blue and red auras, 'oh god no'. He turned his head to get a better look at them and there they were, two ghosts sitting at an empty broken table. Gerard waved at Frank and Mikey smiled smugly, he narrowed his eyes and the pair and flipped them off. They laughed loudly, Frank hated that he was the only one who could hear them. He knew they were going to pester him for the entirety of the date. If he could even call it a date.

Frank turned to Y/n to see her talking to one of the waitresses behind the counter, she was laughing along with waitress about something she said. The waitresses came out from behind the counter holding two menus and guided Y/n to a booth, he speed walked over to Y/n and smiled at her. She laughed and sat down, Frank sat down on the opposite side. The worst part about this seating arrangement was he was looking directly at the ghost brothers, they're laughing and snickering like hyenas and Frank violently wishes he could beat them back to life and kill them again with his bare hands. "Frank?" Y/n called out, worry flashing in her eyes and her hand on his. He shook his head and blinked, "Sorry, did i space out again?" 

"Yeah you did, it was kind of scary. You looked like you were ready to murder someone." She said, she was nervous. He could tell. "Sorry about that, y'know i just uh-"

"It's fine Frank, really it's fine."

It wasn't fine, why did he make that face? It worried her, what was it that he made that face at? His nose was scrunched up and his eyes were dark, his lips twitching ever so slightly. That scared her, not to the point were she could never look at him again but to the point were she was worried for him.

From there on out the "date" went smoothly, other than the occasional sugar packet falling as a result of the two ghost brothers messing around. By the time they had finished it was 1:40, food long gone, still laughing and talking. 

"No no! You're supposed to put a napkin on the table, take your straw, scrunch up the paper, and _then_ put little drops of soda on it and it'll uncoil!" She instructed while laughing at Franks confusion, he followed her instructions and it began to uncoil the moment the soda touched the paper. He marveled at the now soggy piece of paper, poking at it with a straw. Y/n laughed leaned her head on her hand, just watching Frank act like he had never seen the world before. Like an alien who didn't understand anything on earth even though he was like hyper intelligent and could make spaceships that could travel for miles and miles if he wanted to.

He looked up at her innocently and smiled, "We've been here awhile, how do you feel about going over to the park a couple blocks away? Unless y'know you have some place to be." He said shyly, still looking fondly into her eyes. "No it's fine! Let me just pay and we can go." 

"Oh i already paid." He said calmly while putting on his coat, looking around for his gloves. "You did? Wow i didn't even see you pay."

"I paid while you were in the bathroom, y'know so that we didn't have to have that awkward conversation about splitting the bill."

"Oh."

"Now c'mon, we have a park waiting for us."


	3. Into The Willow Trees

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 𝙻𝚘𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗: 𝙱𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎, 𝙽𝚎𝚠 𝙹𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚢  
> 𝙳𝚊𝚝𝚎: 𝙽𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟷𝟹𝚝𝚑, 𝟸𝟶𝟶𝟺  
> 𝚃𝚒𝚖𝚎: 𝟸:𝟶𝟻 𝚙.𝚖
> 
> "Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, and therefore the winged Cupid is painted blind."

⭑*•̩̩͙⊱••••✩••••̩̩͙⊰•*⭑

"C'mon you're so slow Frank!" Y/n exclaimed, running ahead of Frank by a couple of feet. She was heading towards her favorite place in the entire park, the willow trees. Though there were only three of the whimsical trees Y/n couldn't help but love them, they were tall with old, dark chipping tree bark, vast dark green hanging leaves that swayed back and forth in the November wind. She had actually been planning to visit the park since last week, but since it had been raining almost every day she couldn't. Oh the things gloomy weather with take from you.

Y/n slumped against the tree trunk and looked out over the small slope, waiting for Frank to join her under the shady tree. When Y/n saw him approaching she patted the slightly damp grass next to her, implying Frank sit next to her. "Why are you so excited about a tree?" He asked, genuine wonder in his voice.

"Well, my dad used to take me to this park all the time. I would always go up the small hills even though i already knew what was waiting for me. I guess i just like them because they make me nostalgic." She said, looking up at the crisp blue sky. The cool breeze flowed past them and sent shivers down their spines, she chuckled at Franks shiver. 

"So, how long will you be in town?" She asked, if he was going to go back to southern Jersey she had to know how long he was going to stay. She wanted to keep in touch with him.

"Probably for one or two more weeks, but I might move in with my friends. I don't know what I should do." He said, defeated. She slightly smiled but immediately suppressed it, could this be her time of influence? "Well, if you have a big reason to stay here, you should stay." She said, and she left it at that. Let him think about it.

Lets change the subject.

"Y'know, maybe it's just me but sometimes i swear a can hear someone singing behind the wall."

She was talking about the brick wall that separated the forest from the park, and the person in question was no human, but a faun. But she didn't know that.

The worst part was that Frank knew this faun. Ray Toro. Ray Toro was definitely a kind guy, but confusing at the same time. Of course, if the faun part wasn't already confusing to you. Ray doesn't talk to many people from "the outside", he quite literally confines to the inside of his home. Which isn't even that much of a home. Ray was afraid that if he went to "the outside" they would kill him, like they did to one of his friends. On the other side of the wall, there's long vines sprouting up the wall, it blooms climbing roses in shades of red and "black". "The black rose isn't actually black, just a very dark shade of red!" Ray has told this to Frank many times. Ray likes to collect the roses, which would explain why she could hear Ray singing. 

"Do you now?" Frank says calmly, closing his eyes and resting the back of his head on the tree. 

Frank was not as calm as he looked.

Y/n chuckled and looked at the sky, "I know it seems crazy. But i truly believe someone lives behind that wall. I don't know who it is, I want to though. I wonder what they look like." she thought out loud.

'Not what you think they look like." Frank thought. He quickly mentally cursed at himself and calmed himself down. "I don't think it's crazy." he whispered. He turned his head to look at Y/n, who was still staring at the sky. "Maybe one day you'll hear him too." she said.

They spent the next hour or so like this. Sitting under the willow tree and talking about anything and everything. It was 3:50 now. 

"What do you want to do now, Y/n?" 

"I have no clue. What do you want to do?"

"I want to go behind the wall." you said blankly, your eyes fixated on the grey cobblestone wall.

"Y-you what?"

~~  
Sorry this is so short i've been meaning to keep working on this for awhile but not only have i been working on other projects i've been procrastinating, anyway have that.


	4. An Update.

Sadly, i have grown uninterested in this project. Though i personally think it would make for a great fic if i just fleshed it out, i can't focus on it and nor do i have the interest to continue it. Not only that but i'm also not super in the MCR fandom anymore (though i still listen to them of course) and i have decided that i don't really want to write stuff about the band. I'm sorry if you were hoping this would go on longer, but thanks to my dumb ADHD brain I don't have the inspiration to write this. I will end up orphaning this work sooner or later to cut ties from the fic to this account, but if you wish to keep the fic under one of my names you can go to @the_h0st on wattpad to find my old, cringey MCR account. Thank you for coming with me on this weird, short journey. Thank you to who ever read this, left kudos, and commented. You all made my day.


End file.
